South East Greenway costs treble to €45 million
The figure was confirmed by Kilkenny County Council at a recent meeting.
Around €45 million has been spent on South East Greenway, over three times the original cost projected in 2019.
Kilkenny County Council revealed the figure during the monthly meeting of Piltown Municipal District.
At the meeting held in Ferrybank Library, Senior Engineer Tony Lauhoff gave the latest updates for South East Greenway.
He said: "Of the 24 kilometres of the Greenway, some 14 kilometres are now substantially complete, with 12 kilometres now open to the public.
"The overall value of the South East Greenway project is estimated to be in around €45 million. It is the estimated outcome cost for the whole project."
Councillors shared their surprise over the overall figure of the Greeneway. Councillor Pat Dunphy asked Mr. Lauhoff for a breakdown in the costs, commenting: "I can't believe it's gone up that far."
Councillor Tomás Breathnach also asked for more details on the "additional elements".
In November 2019 the Department of Transport announced €8 million in funding for South East Greenway. At the time, Kilkenny County Council stated: "The total estimated cost to deliver the Greenway is €13.5million."
On the Phase 2 scheme for Ferrybank - Curraghmore scheme, the North West set down area and car park has opened at the start of the Greenway. Mr. Lauhoff said: "I'm told that the set down area is using the Pay and Display area of Waterford City so there's a max stay of two hours and there's a charge on using that carpark if it goes over an hour."
Mr. Lauhoff continued: "The section of Curraghmore to Ballyvorneen, the cost of that construction is estimated to be around €12 million. The work is continuing on the detailed design on that section. There's ongoing liaising with the affected landowners by the landlord and liaison team."
Mr. Lauhoff moved on to the Wexford-based parts of the Greenway: "Lot 4 is the one and a half kilometre section of the Greenway at Mount Elliot and the Red Iron Bridge. The tender was issued on September 2 and currently the tender process is underway subject to TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) approval."
The design team on the North-South access road are working on the detailed design for the carpark and a business case has been submitted to the URBF (Urban Regeneration and Development Fund).
There was no update on the Glenmore-Greenway link.
